What We’ve Been Reading – January – Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother

I know that books are really good when I check a title out for a younger child and an older child is excited to see the book and reread it. Two series of books that my older children fondly remember and were excited to see in our library basket this month are the Jenny Linsky books and the Melendy Quartet. Thanks go to Kimberlee for bringing them to my attention again.

Preschool – Second Grade Read Alouds

Bible Stories for Little Children under the approbation of Cardinal McCloskey (excerpt here)

The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader

This book brought back memories of various animals that I saw as a young child when my family lived in Toronto for eight months. The book is well written and the illustrations add to the story’s beauty.

Catholic Children’s Treasure Box Books by Maryknoll Sisters

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor

The Christmas Donkey by Gillian McClure

Christmas In The Stable by Astrid Lindgren
I really like this book.

Corduroy by Don Freeman

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Corduroy when I was young and I still do. This story about a young girl and her bear is a classic.

Curious George Takes a Job by H.A. Rey

What child doesn’t enjoy hearing about Curious George’s antics? My younger children crowd around whenever I start reading a Curious George book. When I was a child, my favorite book in this series was Curious George Rides a Bike.

Miniature Stories of the Saints by Rev. Daniel A. Lord, SJ

Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman
This book is a favorite with my children.

This Is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten

We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin

and more…

Second Grade

Norman The Doorman by Don Freeman
I wish that our library still had (and that Amazon still sold) the larger version of this book. The smaller illustrations, while still good, don’t provide the same impact as the original.

The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke, retold by Pamela Kennedy

Small Pig by Arnold Lobel

Norman the Doorman
illustration by Don Freeman

Fifth Grade

Bobbsey Twins: The Secret at the Seashore Laura Lee Hope

The Boxcar Children: Mystery Ranch Gertrude Chandler Warner

Jenny and the Cat Club: A Collection of Favorite Stories about Jenny Linsky and Captains of the City Streets by Esther Averill

Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald

Two and Two Are Four by Carolyn Haywood

Sixth Grade

Claude Lightfoot by Fr. Francis J. Finn

Treegate’s Raiders by Leonard Wibberley

Eighth Grade

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald

This story by the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series’ author received two thumbs up from my daughter. I haven’t read the book, but after flipping through an original edition and a new copy of the book, I exclaimed, “I prefer the original illustrations.” Agnes replied, “They are definitely better, but the new illustrations fit the story.”

The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
Thanks go to Kimberlee, once again, for bringing this book to our attention.

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
This is the fifth or sixth time that my daughter has read her father’s old copy of The Silmarillion. She is our Tolkien fan.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Tenth Grade

Jenny and the Cat Club: A Collection of Favorite Stories about Jenny Linsky and Captains of the City Streets by Esther Averill

Modern Saints: Their Lives and Faces, Book 1 by Ann Ball

Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald

The original title of this book was Nancy and Plum: A Christmas Story. Joan prefers the original illustrations by Hildegarde Hopkins.

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

Nancy and Plum
illustration by Hildegarde Hopkins

My Husband

An American Knight: The Life of Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC by Norman J. Fulkerson
I have heard my husband recommending this book to some of his friends. He is really enjoying reading it and will occasionally share little bits of what he has read with me.